Primary and secondary social background effects at different points of transition in the education system

在现代后工业社会中，教育发挥着核心作用，因为它以许多不同的方式影响个人的轨迹。如果社会在任人唯贤的基础上给予生活机会，个人因其成就而得到适当奖励，那么就必须查明是否所有社会成员都有平等的受教育机会，或者是否出现了不平等现象，例如，由于社会背景。近年来，跟踪中学系统的结构方面被认为是德国教育差距出现和扩大的影响因素。采取了改革措施，以减少教育不平等（例如，通过促进学校类型之间的渗透和/或减少学校类型的数量）。然而，学校结构变量在多大程度上决定了不同社会群体的参与差异，这一点还没有得到充分了解。研究人员目前正在讨论如何量化社会不平等的参数，因此，这种不平等在学校职业生涯中的发展仍有待充分调查。例如，不平等是成就方面已经存在的差异的后果，还是植根于社会而非教育方面的不同决策进程的直接结果？拟议的MILES研究项目借鉴了在联邦汉堡州（德国）进行的LAU和KESS纵向研究，并研究了在不同教育过渡点的学校结构方面的教育成就的社会不平等，即，教育职业的跟踪性、渗透性和开放性，以及教育的扩展。参考教育生涯和决策的微观社会学模型（Boudon，1974; Mare，1980），该项目将侧重于社会背景对教育成功的主要和次要影响。初级教育的规模和发展（与教育有关）和中学（非成就相关的）背景效应将在四个教育节点进行检查：在从小学到初中的过渡阶段，在初中开始阶段所谓的观察阶段之后，在初中和高中之间，以及高中之后的过渡阶段（学术研究与职业培训）。该项目将研究初级和次级影响如何在中学阶段的决策门槛上发生变化，以及教育需求和愿望的变化（如LAU和KESS之间获得大学入学文凭的学生人数大幅增加所示）如何与教育不平等的模式相关联。此外，该项目将系统地评估不同的估计方法和处理缺失数据的方法，以量化主要和次要效应。

In modern post-industrial societies, education holds a central role as it influences individual trajectories in many different ways. If societies grant opportunities in life on the basis of meritocracy and individuals are duly rewarded for their achievement, it is crucial to find out whether all members of society are given equal access to education, or whether inequalities emerge, for instance, owing to social background. In recent years, structural aspects of the tracked secondary school system were discussed as influential factors of the emergence and amplification of educational disparities in Germany. Reform measures were introduced in order to reduce educational inequalities (e.g., by fostering permeability between and/or reducing the number of school types). However, the extent to which school structural variables condition disparities in the participation of different social groups is not fully understood. Researchers are currently debating how to quantify parameters of social inequalities, and, hence, the development of such inequalities across school careers remains to be fully investigated. For example, are inequalities a consequence of already existing differences in achievement, or are inequalities a direct result of differential decision-making processes that are rooted in social rather than educational aspects? The proposed MILES research project draws on the longitudinal LAU and KESS studies conducted in the federal state of Hamburg (Germany), and studies social inequalities in educational attainment at different educational transition points with respect to school structural aspects, i.e., tracking, permeability and openness of educational careers, and the expansion of education. Referring to the microsociological model for educational careers and decision making (Boudon, 1974; Mare, 1980) the project will focus on primary and secondary effects of social background on educational success. The magnitude and development of primary (achievement-related) and secondary (non-achievement-related) background effects will be examined at four educational junctures: at the transition from primary school to lower secondary school level, after the so-called observation level at the beginning of the lower secondary school level, between lower and upper secondary school levels, and at the transition following upper secondary school level (academic studies vs. vocational training). The project will look at how primary and secondary effects change at the decision thresholds over the course of secondary school and how changes in educational demand and aspirations (as indicated by the strongly increased number of students who have reached the University entrance diploma [Abitur] between LAU and KESS) relate to patterns of educational inequality. Additionally, the project will systematically assess different estimation methods and approaches to handle missing data for the quantification of primary and secondary effects.